


Tinselville

by reachingforinfinity



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Christmas, Dessert & Sweets, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Male-Female Friendship, meeting santa, santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-09-30 22:31:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17232410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reachingforinfinity/pseuds/reachingforinfinity
Summary: The Doctor and Donna go out on the town and try a special dessert.





	Tinselville

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the December 23rd, 25th, 27th, and 28th prompts at [Advent Drabbles](https://adventdrabbles.dreamwidth.org).

The Doctor opened the TARDIS doors with a flourish, and Donna stepped outside into chilly air, brilliant lights, and strings of silver garland hanging everywhere she looked.

"Welcome to Tinselville. Home of the Christmas... well, everything, really."

She looked at him as if he was mad. "Tinselville? What, Tinseltown was taken?"

"Actually, yes. That's one of the moons."

Donna just shook her head. "Bonkers, the lot of you. What exactly are we doing here? It's not Christmas yet, is it? Or is it?"

"Not quite yet," he said. "Of course, there's no reason you can't do some Christmas shopping later. First, though, there's something I want to introduce you to. It's a kind of dessert – a Tinselville specialty."

“You won't hear me arguing against dessert.”

"In that case..." He extended his elbow to her, grinning, and she grinned back as they strode off arm-in-arm down the picturesque road.

"They've got everything Christmas here that you could want. Biggest selection of decorations and toys for ten galaxies. Oh, look, there's Santa Claus!" A gigantic man in a red suit was sitting in the middle of the square, holding a young human girl who was barely the size of his forearm.

Donna's eyes widened. "Is he real? Like, a proper, living giant?"

"Oh, yes. From the planet Calceona." The Doctor squinted at him. "Actually, he's a bit on the short side."

"You call that short??" Donna watched the Santa for a few moments as he bent all the way over, allowing the girl to whisper in his ear. "Doesn't he get cold, sitting out there all day?"

"He's surrounded by an atmospheric field," the Doctor said. "It regulates the temperature around him. You can see some of the projectors on the ground if you look carefully." He pointed, and Donna could just make out a few long, thin pieces of metal beneath the snow.

"Does it have a door or something?"

"Nope. You can just walk right through it. They've extended it all around the square, actually. Everybody waiting inside is quite cozy."

"Meanwhile, I get to freeze my arse off out here."

"We'll go somewhere nice and toasty after this." The Doctor nudged her shoulder. "Come on. Where's your sense of adventure?"

"Can't we have _warm_ adventures?" He just grinned at her, and she sighed.

"Oh, all right,” she said. “Lead the way.”

As they began to walk again and Donna shivered inside her jacket, she wondered, not for the first time in her life, how a skinny man like the Doctor managed to walk around with his coat wide open in this sort of weather. Maybe Time Lords could just hold in heat better than humans.

"Ah, here we are!" the Doctor said finally. They were standing in front of a very festive-looking kiosk, full of humanoid workers with green-and-white striped skin. It, too, had a long line, but it was moving at a dizzying pace. The Doctor pulled her into the line, and she simply held very tightly to his arm as he sped them through. Then he was waving some sort of card at the people behind the counter, and two objects appeared on it.

"Come on, then, take yours," the Doctor said, gesturing toward them. What Donna could only describe as a large snowball was sitting inside a purplish-blue container, and she stared at it.

"We need to move. People are waiting." The Doctor was tugging her arm again. Donna didn't miss all the grumbles and dirty looks as they walked away.

"People are the same in every galaxy. Making a big fuss if they don't get served the _second_ they want it.”

"Never mind them. Let's go find a table."

There was a field full of picnic tables nearby, each one decorated with festive spreads and figurines, and as they approached Donna felt a sudden wave of warm air wash over her.

"Oh! Another one of those atmosphere fields!" She squealed with delight, then dragged him forward. "Come on... we don't want to end up with a table that isn't warmed up."

“But they're all..." She wasn't listening, though. Instead she guided them to the first empty table she could find, then placed the dessert in front of her, tilting her head as she examined it.

"What is this?"

"Exactly what it looks like." the Doctor said. “It's a snowball.”

"Do you mean to tell me you got me a _snowball_ for dessert?" She looked at him incredulously.

"A very delicious snowball." His lips curled up as he took in her expression. "Oh, just try it. One good taste. If you don't love it, we can go to whatever beach you want for an entire week."

"You're on," Donna said with a grin. She noticed a tiny spoon tucked just inside the container, and she held it in two fingers as she examined the snowball again, then scooped up a little and tasted it. Her eyes went wide as it began to melt on her tongue.

"Oh, what _is_ that?" Donna exclaimed. "It's heavenly!"

"Keep eating," the Doctor said, his eyes bright as he watched her. "It takes a few bites to discern the flavors."

She happily obliged, and after a couple more mouthfuls, certain tastes began to make themselves noticed.

"Is that... candy canes? And gingerbread! The kind with lots of icing. Wait – there's something else, too." Donna took another spoonful, then looked at the snowball with astonishment. "I don't believe it. Yorkshire pudding flavor. How on Earth did that get in there?"

"The container reads the brain waves of whoever picks up the spoon," he explained. "It senses all the flavors you like best in holiday foods, and combines them into one big mélange."

"What does it taste like for you, then?" Donna asked. The Doctor put the snow in his mouth, moving it slowly around his palate.

"Fruitcake. Cranberry sauce. Ooh, and peppermint hot cocoa. How did it know that? Have they changed the recipe this year?" He stared at the snowball piercingly, as though trying to dissect it with his eyes.

"Maybe your tastes have just changed," Donna said with a shrug. She was getting a hint of mint chocolate chip ice cream now – one of the best ice cream flavors in the world, in her opinion. She swallowed another bit of snowball, then smiled.

"This is lovely, Doctor. Thank you." Donna stretched out a hand toward him, and he held it for a moment as he smiled at her.

"Worth the cold, then?"

"Definitely. Which, by the way, still doesn't mean I want to walk around this planet's North Pole forever."

"It's really not _that_ cold," he started, but she shook her head.

"There are lots of indoor shops around here, all down the streets – I saw loads of things in the windows on the walk over. Maybe I can get Granddad a souvenir."

"What about visiting Santa?"

Donna practically choked on a mouthful of snow. " _You_ want to see Santa Claus? You're 900 years old!"

"Why not? He's a giant... we'd both look like children in his arms. Besides, age is just a number, isn't it?" He waggled his eyebrows at her. "I bet the photos would come out great."

“I never could say no to a child at Christmastime," she said. He flicked the top of his still-snowy spoon at her, and a tiny piece of ice lodged itself in her hair.

"Now that's just rude." She broke off a piece of her snowball and tossed it at him, hitting him squarely in the forehead. She couldn't help laughing as it slid down his face.

"Oh, now you've done it," he said, then picked up his entire snowball and looked at her with a devilish gleam in his eyes.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Better run, Earth girl," he said, tossing the ball into the air. She grabbed her dessert, container and all, before she bolted in the direction of the TARDIS with a shriek.

He took one more bite of snow before he followed her, shouting, "Allons-y!"


End file.
